I know there are a gazillion fairy/vampire/werewolf (and I actually stumbled upon a Werecat series the otherday!) books out there these days, and I admit to having gone through a phase immediately following on from Twilight of having read a few but I thought they were well and trully out of my system… Until my friend, Vicki, lent me a YA fairy book she’d recently bought, ‘Bones of Faerie’ by Janni Lee Simner. It actually turned out okay. Yes, of course, it’s part of a trilogy and yes, the book is a very easy-read but the plot is actually interesting enough to draw you in and the ending is satisfying enough that you could just stop if you wanted to. The book reminded me of Aprilynne Pike’s ‘Wings’ but for a slightly older audience as this book has death, war, abuse, parental neglect and a harrowing scene involving a newborn baby left for dead. As it is a YA book, none of these themes are explored too deeply, just enough to carry the story forward.

Blurb time:

The war between humanity and Faerie devastated both sides. Or so 15-year-old Liza has been told. Nothing has been seen or heard from Faerie since, and Liza’s world bears the scars of its encounter with magic. Trees move with sinister intention, and the town Liza calls home is surrounded by a forest that threatens to harm all those who wander into it. Then Liza discovers she has the Faerie ability to see – into the past, into the future – and she has no choice but to flee her town. Liza’s quest will take her into Faerie and back again, and what she finds along the way may be the key to healing both worlds.

Simner is predominantly a children’s author but has written short stories for adults and contributed to anthologies. She looks like fun to me – here’s a photo of her I found on Google where she attended a Fairy Festival, in Arizona, organised by organised by http://www.kidsneedtoread.org/which was all about promoting reading in children. I so wish I lived there and could have gone too to show my support and have books read to me!

Author Janni Lee Simner (right) read from her book, Bones of Faerie. Here, she is being amused by writer Angela Fox.